Thales of Miletus
c. 624 BC – 546 BC · 78 years · Miletus · Middle East
Regarded as the first Greek philosopher and scientist; sought a natural first principle and reputedly predicted the eclipse of 585 BC.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 7th century BC
Portrait: Wilhelm Meyer · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Pythagoras — Greek philosopher and mathematician, 54 years younger
- Solon — Athenian lawgiver and poet, 6 years older
- Sappho — ancient Greek lyric poet, 6 years older
Middle East
- Cyrus the Great — founder of the Achaemenid Empire, 24 years younger
- Nebuchadnezzar II — king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, 18 years older
Asia
- Gautama Buddha — founder of Buddhism, 61 years younger
- Mahavira — spiritual teacher of Jainism, 25 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- 612 BC Fall of Nineveh — aged 12, Middle East
- 587 BC Destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar — aged 37, Middle East
- c. 563 BC Birth of the Buddha — aged 61, Asia
- 551 BC Birth of Confucius — aged 73, Asia
- 550 BC Cyrus the Great founds the Achaemenid Empire — aged 74, Middle East